Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) COO Sells $122,109.78 in Stock

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) COO Matthew E. Korenberg sold 1,157 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.54, for a total value of $122,109.78. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 67,211 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,093,448.94. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

NASDAQ:LGND opened at $105.20 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $95.72 and a 200 day simple moving average of $83.86. Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 52-week low of $49.24 and a 52-week high of $112.13. The company has a market cap of $1.89 billion, a PE ratio of 20.35 and a beta of 1.01.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The biotechnology company reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.34. The company had revenue of $41.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.04 million. Ligand Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 79.30% and a return on equity of 8.52%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 57.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.10 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 3.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LGND has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $130.00 price target on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Craig Hallum raised their target price on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $144.00 price target on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Benchmark raised their price objective on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $95.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $131.00.

Institutional Trading of Ligand Pharmaceuticals

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Chicago Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 124.3% during the 2nd quarter. Chicago Capital LLC now owns 514,946 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $43,389,000 after purchasing an additional 285,350 shares during the last quarter. Ashford Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in the first quarter valued at $14,367,000. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC increased its holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 41.0% during the fourth quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC now owns 659,434 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $47,097,000 after buying an additional 191,870 shares during the last quarter. F M Investments LLC acquired a new position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter worth $11,350,000. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter worth $7,655,000. Institutional investors own 91.28% of the company’s stock.

About Ligand Pharmaceuticals

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated, a biopharmaceutical company, engages in the development and licensing of biopharmaceutical assets worldwide. Its commercial programs include Kyprolis and Evomela, which are used to treat multiple myeloma; Rylaze, a recombinant erwinia asparaginase for the treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukemia or lymphoblastic lymphoma in adult and pediatric patients; Filspari, a dual endothelin and angiotensin II receptor antagonist in development for rare kidney diseases and non-immunosuppressive treatment indicated for immunoglobulin A nephropathy; Teriparatide injection product for osteoporosis; Vaxneuvance for the prevention of invasive disease caused by streptococcus pneumoniae serotypes; and Pneumosil, a pneumococcal conjugate vaccine to help fight against pneumococcal pneumonia among children.